According to The Democrats way-back-then, voting for Goldwater would mean we'd be in Vietnam inside a year. Well, I guess they were right; I did and we were.
That aside, "Why won't (insert whoever you wish to disparage here) fight?" is editorializing, nothing more nor less, and for that is borderline intellectual dishonesty. There is no answer to such a question; in and of itself the very "question" is tantamount to screed.
But without going further to that point, I do find amusing the ill-informed attempts of some here to discredit the Military Times Survey. That I would like to address.
Of course the survey done by The Military Times is "unscientific". It is presented as such, merely as a matter of interest, a sampling of the mood and attitude of those who chose to respond. As stated in the articles accompanying the survey, " ... Bush leads Democratic Sen. John Kerry 73 percent to 18 percent in the voluntary survey of 4,165 active-duty, National Guard and reserve subscribers to Army Times, Navy Times, Marine Corps Times and Air Force Times.
Though the results of the Military Times 2004 Election Survey are not representative of the opinions of the military as a whole, they are a disappointment to Democrats who hoped Kerry's record and doubts about Bush would give their candidate an opening in a traditionally Republican group with tremendous symbolic value in a closely contested election ...
... To conduct the survey, Military Times e-mailed more than 31,000 subscribers Sept. 15. They were invited to access an Internet site seeking their opinions on the presidential race and related issues. From Sept. 21 to 28, and before the first presidential debate on Sept. 30, a total of 2,754 active-duty and 1,411 reserve and Guard members took part ... "
Perhaps a message lies in the proportion of invitees who did in fact respond. A 13% response is somewhere between incredible and fantastic, but that's neither here nor there, really. There is no reason to assume anything other than that those who chose to respond tended to be more favorable to one political sentiment than to another.
One cannot say, however, that The Military Times Poll is
UNREPRESENTATIVE of the political sentiment within the US Military, as The Annenberg Center for Public Policy recently completed a poll of military members and families which essentially validates the findings of the poll done by The Military Times.
Quote:Annenberg: Military survey 3 to 1 for Bush
By Brian DeBose
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published October 16, 2004
Men and women in the military favor President Bush 3 to 1, according to a survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, despite reservations about troop strength and an exit strategy in Iraq.
A significant majority of those polled also believe the country is moving in the right direction and that Mr. Bush has better plan for success in Iraq than Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry.
Mr. Bush received a response of favorable from 69 percent of military personnel polled, compared with 29 percent for Mr. Kerry. Twenty-three percent viewed the president unfavorably, compared to Mr. Kerry's 54 percent.
Among National Guard and military Reserve members, the numbers were even higher for Mr. Bush, with 74 percent saying they favored the president, compared with Mr. Kerry's 26 percent.
"These are people who have chosen a way of life, they are proud of it. President Bush is their commander in chief and they believe in the mission," said Annenberg political director Adam Clymer.
When asked whether the country was moving in the right direction, 64 percent of enlisted members said yes, along with 69 percent of guard and reserve members.
"There are a lot of people who support President Bush but don't think the nation is moving in the right direction, but this is the sunniest outlook I've seen," Mr. Clymer said.
When asked who had a clear plan for success in Iraq, Mr. Kerry has work to do, with 72 percent saying he has no vision for the future in the war-torn country. Regarding Mr. Bush's plan, there was a near 50-50 split among respondents with 48 percent saying he had no clear plan and 47 percent saying he did.
Among guardsmen and reservists the numbers were similar, with 50 percent saying Mr. Bush did have a clear plan and 44 percent saying he did not, as opposed to 16 percent saying Mr. Kerry had a clear plan and 74 percent saying he did not.
Kerry campaign officials said they are not surprised to see Mr. Bush receiving high support from the military, and released several statements from military family members criticizing the administration for "failing to give [troops] the proper equipment."
Bush campaign officials said the Kerry camp's nervousness about military support for the president can be found in its perceived activities to limit the military vote.
Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman said the Democrats have devised a clever strategy to complicate the election by waiting "until the last minute" to file suit to keep independent Ralph Nader off the ballot.
Mr. Mehlman said the late challenge keeps local election officials from printing ballots to send overseas to U.S. troops. Unless the ballots are sent out within the next few days, it is unlikely that members of the military serving in Iraq or Afghanistan could fill them out and get them back to the United States before Nov. 2.
"Here we go again," said former Sen. Bob Dole, Kansas Republican. "In 2000, Democrats tried to disenfranchise military voters in Florida; they tried to do it again in 2004 using the same cast of characters."
The Annenberg Center surveyed 655 active military personnel or their family members in the 48 intercontinental states between Sept. 22 and Oct. 5. Family members were also surveyed when the military personnel in the household serving were not available. The survey also compared the answers with those of National Guardsmen, reservists, family members and the general public.
The survey shows a definite difference between how military personal and the general public perceive the candidates. Recent national tracking polls have Mr. Bush even or leading Mr. Kerry by two or three percentage points, within the margins of error.
"This group is more likely to vote and more interested in the election than anyone else," Mr. Clymer said. "They are more Republican, but also military Republicans are more supportive of Bush than Republicans in general."
Mr. Bush received high marks in the areas of leadership, 72 percent to Mr. Kerry's 20 percent; common values, 64 percent to 28 percent; and optimism, 59 percent to 24 percent.
When asked whether the National Guard and reservists in Iraq were properly trained, 38 percent said yes and 42 percent said no. Asked if the Pentagon has overburdened the guard and reserve members, 59 percent said yes and 34 percent said no.
But a majority, 57 percent to 39 percent, said the Pentagon's orders for some soldiers to extend their service beyond their enlistment was proper; 73 percent said the troops should stay until a stable Iraqi government is in place. The same percentage opposed reinstatement of the draft.
By and large, The US Military, Officers and Rank-and-File alike, does not like what it perceives Kerry to be about.
) throughout the US entertaining the troops for a couple of months a year, the rest of the time it was back to reading data.
